Cooling-tower.



E. BURHORN. COOLING TOWER. JIFLIOATIOI FILED APR. 30, 1910.

Patented wet 18.11910.

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illflif in STATES ED'WIN BURHORN. UF HOBOZ'KEN, NEW JERSEY.

CQOLIENG-TQ'WER.

h iplication filed April 30, 1910.

tpecifioation of Letters Patent.

Etatented Get. to, 1916*.

Serial No. 558,596.

To all when; it may concern:

lie it; known that. l llHWI); lilRHORN, a men oi the llnited States, residing in the 7 M oi otmlrcn. eounty oi lludson, and liltate ot New Jersey. hare invented eertain new and useful lmprorements in Coolingiowert-u oi whit-la the following is a speeitieatioip i i illy invention relates to cooling towers or that class oi device tllllj)l) \(tl l'or modifyin the temperature of water or other liquid whit-h is to be sprayed or otherwise passed througgjh the apparatus in contact with coolair or other medium.

a present invention contemplates iniproveinent's in certain oi the teatures of such cooling; towers. which together with the tilrleels aecmnplished, will appear in the following: deseription.

i will first describe one Form of apparatus enibmlying in) iinprtwements and then point out the norel features in the elaims.

in the drawing;- aeeompartying and torming a part of this speeiticat'ioiuFigure i is a side elevation of a cooling; apparatus embodying; my improvement with eerlain parts omitted to more elearly show the interior arrann enlent, and Fig. 2 an enlarged detail Fillt')\\'lll t' the form and relative position ol' two sucressivelouvers. Fig. 53 is an eieration oil a single one of the louvers detached. showing; its relative length and width.

li imilar letters of reference designate corresponding; parts in the several figures oi. the drawings.

in an apparatus of this kind, there is a space through which water is to he passed, for example by showering. and it will be understood that the water is to be under the eonifiant inlluenee of a medium such as air 'l'or lowering or modifying the temperature of the water.

The details ol' any particular mechanism for forcing; air into the. apparatus are not. a part oi the present inrenlion. and are therefore not illustrated. and indeed any special apparatus in! this purpose may under proper eonditlions be dispensed with since the iii-flow oi atmospherie air may be adequote.

'lhere is a general framework designated by .l. whose details will not be relerred to l'nrther than to explain that the same eonsists at up vardly extending and also transverse members properly lulu-connected to constitute a rigid tower, at the top of which water may he showered and from the bottom of which water may be drawn by a suitable outlet.

l5 represents a pan loeated at the bottom and oi sutlirient size to eatelb'all the water which may drop or splash in the apparatus.

t) is an outlet from the pan B. The cooled water from outlet C may be passed through the eondenser of a steam-engine or other wise employed in aeeordanoe with the purposes of the cooling tower. a

ll represents a showering device located at the top and which is connected in any suitable way as by a pipe E with the source of hot water orother medium to be cooled or modified in temperature.

The water from the showering device 1) passes successively through any desired number o'l deelcs or pans l. G, H. which are preferably in the form oi perforated and flanged pans which assist in the proper distribution of the descending streams of water.

3 represents av series of louvers on the right-hand side oi the apparatus and there will preierahly be a similar series K on the opposite side, and when the tower is foursided, two "further series, namely on the side farthest from the observer of Fig. 1. and on the side nearest the observer, which latter are'omitted from the drawing for the sake of elearness. 'lhe louvers will be observed to he inelined inwardly, by which I mean that any stray water falling upon the upper surtaoe of given louver will tend to How inwardly rather than outwardly. The (litterent loui'ers in eaeh series are superposed, that. is placed one abore the other, and the arrangement will be seen to be such as to practically constitute a wall against the aeeidental loss of water whieh is liable to be thrown or splash cmhvardly; whereas on the eontrary passage for cooling eurrents of air is permittetl. Indeed the entering air is thrown in an inclined direction whieh cuts the dost-milling streams of water diagonally so as to inerease eilieieney.

Each of thelouvers marked in Fig. 2 is seen to consist generally of a ilat strip or sheet of metal, wood or other suitable materiahathe same being comparatively thin so as to minimize obstruction,weight and expense. A channel at O is shown along the upper side or edge oi eaeh louver, this conveniently being formed by a bending over of the metal, as seen in 2. in the ease of water tending to become lost hy being thrown j outwardly from the spraying devices, thel channel 0 would act as a barrier preventing the outtlow of water. and would even serve g to hold loose water until sullicient quantity had accumulated to make heavy drops which would then necessarily run hack or inward. In addition to the channel 0 is shown a groove P running along the lower side or v edge of each louver. Into this groove will i run all of the water accumulated upon the upper surface of the louver. The advantage of this construction am now he made clear. t It the upper surface of the louver were peri feetly plain and fiat, not only would some ot' the alter be liable to he lost by passing outwardly, but that water which runs inwardly and drops hack into the tower might in some cases constitute a substantial descending sheet of water that; would mate- 1 rially ohstriict the free in-tlow ot' the cooli ing air between the louvers. This objection l would be quite serious, especially in the case l of an apparatus to he operated by the natui'al nni veinents of atmospheric air, which in some cases would he of very light pressure. instead of acting in this manner, the groove l gathers all the alter from the surface of j the louver, finally discharging it into the inl terior of the tower at certain designated or l predetermined points at which discharge openings may he formed aiid in the present case these discharge points will he at the two ends respectively of the groove l on each louver. The conil'iina'tioii of elements ahove deserihed, therefore, beside the henef fits already mentioned serves to gather all the loose water from the louvers into suhslantially l'our descending streams. namely i :it the tour i'oi'iiei's (it the tower. i lt will he understood thatv the air passing inwardly hetween the louvers at one side; will suhsequent'ly pass outwardly from thet tower hetween the lonvei's at the opposite: side, and it is therefore important to Ininii n'iize the obstruction to the air passing out l wardly. This is materially assisted by the peculiar construction of louver, as shown in t Fig. 2. wherein the bottom edge Q at the extreme lower side, is in the same plane with the upper face of. the louver and does not project ahove the latter. 5y this means the groove 1 is located or formed entirely beneath the upper surface of the louver for the purposes specified.

The particular manner shown of connecting the louvci's to the l'raiiio is merely one convenient form of connection, and may be varied as desire .l, and it will he understood that many variations in the louvers them- 5 selves are within the scope of the present iniproven'ient; they may, for example, be inadeadjustable t'or inclination or otherwis and any of the features already referred to in my prior applications No. lOSQJTt) tiled Dec. 28, lat)? and No. 501,488, tiled June ll, 1905), may he adopted in connection with the present improvements. I

\Vhat I claim as new aiid desire to secure hy Letters Patent, is: i

1. In a cooling tower, the combination of the framework with means to pass the liquid to he cooled from the upper to the lower portion, and a series of superposed and inwardly inclined louvei's each having a channel along its iipper edge.

2. In a cooling tower, the combination of the traineivork with means to pass the liquid to he cooled from the upper to the lower portion. and a series of superposed and inwardly inclined louvers each having a channel along its upper edge; and a groove running along the louvers lower edge.

3. In a cooling tower, the combination of the 't'ranieivork with means to pass the liquid to he cooled from the upper to the lower portion, and a series of superposed and inwardly inclined louvers each having a channel along its upper edge; and a groove running along the louver's lower edge, said groove torined entirely heneath the upper snrt'ai-e ot' the louver.

-l. In a cooling tower, the combination of the framework with means to pass the liquid to he cooled from the upper to the lower por- 7 tion, and a series of superposed and inwardly inclined louvers, each having a groove running along its lower edge from end to end.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 29th day of April, 1910.

EDWIN BURHORN.

' \Vitnesses:

FHAXOES Kmimion,

l )UNALD CAMPBELL. 

